fuck you utah legislature

[East Coast Hustle]

I've been to SLC many times (as in stopped and hung out overnight, not just drove through), but I'm WAY too cool to live there.

It pretty much strikes me as just another small-to-middling intermountain sprawl, except it smells worse than, say, Denver or Albuquerque due to that thing the locals refer to as a "lake" being right nearby. For those who don't know, the Great Salt Lake smells terrible most of the time, though it seems to get less intrusive the farther north you get. To be honest, the most memorable thing about SLC to me (other than the smell) is how un-memorable it is. I cannot for the life of me fathom why people would choose to move there. Even the mountains are inferior. Admittedly, they get some of the best snow on earth, but that's no reason to live in a high-desert shithole, especially in the age of air travel.

[East Coast Hustle]

also, it's been my personal experience that people who wait for the situation to be just right to make a positive change in their life rather than just going and MAKING it happen tend to never end up making much (if any) change at all.

In other words, fuck that noise. If Utah sucks that bad just pack up all of your shit and move somewhere that seems more in line with what you want out of life.

[Requia ☣]

also, it's been my personal experience that people who wait for the situation to be just right to make a positive change in their life rather than just going and MAKING it happen tend to never end up making much (if any) change at all.

In other words, fuck that noise. If Utah sucks that bad just pack up all of your shit and move somewhere that seems more in line with what you want out of life.

You're right, living under a bridge because you moved somewhere whee you had no job and no family is totally better than living in Utah.

[East Coast Hustle]

if you end up living under a bridge, you probably weren't motivated enough.

sack up.

[Requia ☣]

I've been to SLC many times (as in stopped and hung out overnight, not just drove through), but I'm WAY too cool to live there.

It pretty much strikes me as just another small-to-middling intermountain sprawl, except it smells worse than, say, Denver or Albuquerque due to that thing the locals refer to as a "lake" being right nearby. For those who don't know, the Great Salt Lake smells terrible most of the time, though it seems to get less intrusive the farther north you get. To be honest, the most memorable thing about SLC to me (other than the smell) is how un-memorable it is. I cannot for the life of me fathom why people would choose to move there. Even the mountains are inferior. Admittedly, they get some of the best snow on earth, but that's no reason to live in a high-desert shithole, especially in the age of air travel.

the lake smells fine most of the time.

You need to be here when the winds blow in from the west to understand.

[East Coast Hustle]

maybe I've mostly been there when the wind is out of the west. Is that a seasonal thing? I've typically ended up there either in May/June or October/November.

Also, in fairness to SLC the one thing I did really like about the place is that the whole "they're not bars, they're clubs" thing seems to have led to an abundance of illegal or quasi-legal speakeasies, many of which have backroom poker games.

[-Kel-]

maybe I've mostly been there when the wind is out of the west. Is that a seasonal thing? I've typically ended up there either in May/June or October/November.

Also, in fairness to SLC the one thing I did really like about the place is that the whole "they're not bars, they're clubs" thing seems to have led to an abundance of illegal or quasi-legal speakeasies, many of which have backroom poker games.

the "clubs" have been done away with. now all public bars.

[East Coast Hustle]

That's pretty lame, unless ALL of the public bars now have illegal backroom poker games.

[-Kel-]

That's pretty lame, unless ALL of the public bars now have illegal backroom poker games.

being an advid poker player......SHORTY AINT SAYING SHIT!!!

[cavehamster]

I lived in northern New Mexico and spent a lot of time in Albuquerque.  It has a little bit of a culture, lots of good mexican food, but lackluster mountains.  My choices before coming to Utah were to move to Abq or goto SLC.  I choose SLC because it had more options.

Denver has better mountains near it, but in all reality Denver itself has become the LA of the Rockies.  Crime and boneheaded city management there has resulted in the current situation of Denver planning on turning off over 1/2 of its street lights, discontinuing after school and summer programs for youth, and stopping all but basic park maintenance.  Nice to visit, but certainly do not want to live there.

The trick with Utah, and it took me a long time to really understand this, is that due to the upbringing of most, people are really motivated to build things and branch out.  Thus, the culture here is quite literally chain restaurants and stores, mostly because a lot of them originated or were given momentum.  The state motto is 'industry' after all.  This can suck if you want unique, but it is what it is.

The mountains in Utah are not quite the same as being in the Rockies of Colorado, but after having spent a lot of time checking them out, I'd say they are very accessible and very nearby, not to mention being pretty decent to look at.  And, as you point out, airfare being what it is, I can go visit Colorado (or just drive there) whenever I want.

Utah and SLC is not a place to goto if you want to integrate into culture, it's a lot more about learning how to do your own thing and going for it.  My GF is from Chicago, and constantly has trouble with this.  Plus it helps if you are either an outdoorsy person or into motorsports of any kind.  The gun laws are also very lax out here, but gun crimes are low, so you feel like you have a lot more freedom.  Heck, crime itself is pretty low in SLC compared to other cities of its size.

Personally, the two biggest things that annoy me are the smog when we have temperature inversions (especially long ones) and dealing with traffic (but the motorcycle makes that a little more fun).  Living here was not my first choice, but honestly, does any place have less bullshit?  Should I pack up and leave the first time the legislature passes a bunk law, or should I pitch in my voice to protest and discuss how things can be changed for the better?

In the good things department, last year, lots of liquor laws changed.  Bars are now open, homebrewing is now legal (like we paid attention to that one), and penalties for drunk driving is much higher (something states like New Mexico cannot seem to get right).  Plus, Salt Lake city made a positive step towards more equal rights earlier this year by passing rules regarding not discriminating against sexual orientation, as I mentioned above.  So things can change, but sometimes the middle steps are wrong, or hard.

[East Coast Hustle]

now if Utah could only grow a coast.

[cavehamster]

now if Utah could only grow a coast.

As a desert rat, water is overrated 

[-Kel-]

i like fresh water over salt water, even though i do love the ocean.

[East Coast Hustle]

i like fresh water over salt water, even though i do love the ocean.

I sink in fresh water.

[Requia ☣]

Homebrewing was illegal?   

I'll add that to the list of crimes I got away with.